Stories of Self Defense

Nevada Governor Sandoval VETOES Universal Background Check Bill

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Score another victory for gun rights. Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada has vetoed a universal background check bill which made its way up through the state legislature.

In Nevada, like most states, law abiding private citizens can sell or gift firearms to other law abiding private citizens freely, without the need for a firearms dealer or the government to get involved.

“It’s disappointing. This is common sense legislation that protected rights of gun owners in our state while making great strides to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill,” said Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, the bill’s sponsor who found out about the veto from reading tweets. “The governor turned a blind eye to victims of tragedies like Sandy Hook and IHOP.”

A gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Four people were killed and several were injured in a shooting at a Carson City IHOP in 2011.

It has been widely known for a couple of weeks now that the governor would most likely veto the bill when it got to his desk. The governor accompanied his veto with a detailed letter. Here are the highlights of that letter.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, the governor expanded on his reasoning for his veto in an open letter,

In his message, Sandoval also quoted from a letter from the Nevada Sheriffs’ and Chiefs’ Association that said mandatory background checks “on private sales place an unreasonable burden on law-abiding citizens, with the potential to make them criminals.”

“It would be unenforceable by law enforcement. It is our opinion this bill would do little to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals,” the letter stated.
Sandoval said the bill would have required a person wishing to sell a firearm to a family member request a background check through a federally licensed firearms dealer.

The bill “also introduces into Nevada law a change in the burden of proof associated with the prosecution of criminal action for the unlawful sale or disposal of a firearm,” Sandoval said.